Secular Studies surveys a range of artistic strategies and interests in 19th and 20th century visual culture and its influence on social behavioral trends. In their works, each artist considers the multiple ways that the politics and power of display intersect in popular culture production.

Nitty Gritty features artists who examine modus operandi of ritual, preservation, and paradoxical longings through sculpture, sound, photography, video, and installation. Through these works, concerns of the social, ecological, and alternative practices come to light.

Exploring the significance of the human voice as a communicative tool, Alejandro T. Acierto considers narratives of marginalized identities and histories through the use of breath. As a play on futuristic archeology, Kayla Anderson stores organic objects in acrylic reliquaries as a speculation on the contradictory practices of environmentalism and preservation. Blair Bogin generates documentary-based combinations of photography, video, and writing with a series of interpretive astrological charts, where esoteric divination meets folk psychology. In this work, Bogin narrates her life to accentuate individual characteristics with poetics, humor, and an aptitude for expression.

Dicker, Lurk & Skew

Popular cultures often reinforce existing modes of institutional thought. Grappling with cavalier attitudes towards power and privilege, Dicker, Lurk & Skew takes a speculative view of the functional dysfunctionality of social constructs through multiple lenses. The exhibition is a critical reflection on oppressive ideals of femininity, the phenomenology of musical aesthetics, and the fabrication of globalized economies.